Page 70 of Inferno
But once again, the warriors were not listening to what was being said. They expected a particular answer, and they were not going to accept anything else until they heard what they wanted to hear.
Nerik sighed. “Even if that’s true, that still doesn’t prove I had anything to do with that shirt, or with Nerik. I happened to be in the same general area. That’s all.”
“Now listen here, you filthy mongrel.” Henrick marched right up to the bars, even as Renfold called him back. “You don’t get to come marching into this… Holy fuck!” He leapt backwards, his face stricken, though Nerik hadn’t moved. Yorin wondered what had happened for a moment, whether Nerik had hit him with a blast of heat, perhaps? But Nerik hadn’t lifted so much as a finger, and Yorin had seen enough of his abilities to believe that he couldn’t throw fire around by justthinkingabout it. And moreover, he doubted that Nerik would risk antagonising one of the warriors, when he needed as much of their good will as possible if he was to have any chance of getting out of that cage.
But Henrick pointed a shaking finger at Nerik, grabbing Renfold’s arm and pulling him closer. “You see that?”
Renfold deigned to take a step forward, peering at whatever it was that Henrick was pointing at. Curious about the discovery, Bril came over as well, leaning forward to look, at the same time as Renfold drew in a sharp breath and backed away.
“Great gods, that’s… You killed Nerik, didn’t you?”
Nerik’s tone was far more cautious this time, as he answered the question. He still didn’t move, and Yorin had to wonder whether he knew what the men were looking at. “No, I didn’t. I have no reason to kill anyone.”
Renfold continued glaring at him, but Henrick was looking alarmed, disgusted, even, like Nerik was a rat he’d found swimming in his soup. “I don’t think he killed Nerik,” Henrick said slowly, glancing over at Renfold. “I think he… Maybe this sounds crazy, but I think he… I think heisNerik.”
Gosta’s hand around Yorin’s tightened to the point that she was cutting off the blood flow to his fingers. Beside them, Kit gasped, while Forlegard muttered a faint curse.
“You mean he absorbed Nerik’s essence, or something like that?” Renfold asked. “Gods, that sounds ghastly.”
“No. I mean heisNerik.Thisis Nerik. I think he managed to disguise himself as a human somehow. Some kind of twisted magic, maybe?”
Beside them, Bril snorted. “Magic’s not real.”
Henrick rounded on the man with a snarl. “Nerik disappeared without a trace, we found his clothes abandoned in the forest, and then a demon shows up wearing Nerik’s necklace. You see that symbol hanging around his neck? That’s Nerik’s. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and I’ve never seen anyone else with one like it. Why would a demon show up wearing that?”
Well, that explained what they were all staring at. “Arix preserve us,” Gosta muttered. “We’re all going to die.”
Yorin could feel her panic as a tangible force. But in the privacy of his own mind, he wondered whether this might not be a good thing. Or at least, a salvageable thing. Nerik the messenger boy was a known quantity, a person, and to some people in this city, he was a person they cared about. As far as introducing humans to the concept of demons being people, they couldn’t have asked for a better set up. And being a messenger, Nerik was well known throughout much of the city, giving him a wide circle of influence, if they managed to swing this to their advantage.
But how were they going to do that? Gosta’s declaration of impending death did nothing to bolster Yorin’s confidence, and he wasn’t sure whether the Chalandrians would be on board with the idea of supporting Nerik, now that he was exposed, or if they wouldn’t prefer to cut him off and deny everything.
Then again, even Nerik had yet to give an answer to the warriors.
“Why did you take the necklace from Nerik?” Renfold asked Nerik.
Nerik shook his head slowly. Even he seemed to be admitting defeat. What would this mean for their larger cause? Or for the riders who trained the dragons? Or for their hopes for the unicorns?
What could Nerik possibly say? That he, a terrifying black smoke-demon, simply happened to have an identical necklace to the one worn by a humble human messenger?
“I am Nerik,” Nerik said, head down, hands clenched into fists.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Renfold simply stared at Nerik. In all likelihood, he hadn’t expected such an easy admission. Even Henrick, always quick to voice his opinion, had been stunned into silence. “Prove it,” Renfold said, his voice unnervingly calm. “Prove that you’re Nerik. Show us how you change your appearance to look like a human.”
Around him, Yorin heard every single Chalandrian mutter a similar prayer, asking either Arix or Alfrix to save them. One day soon, he was going to have to ask what the difference between the two deities was. He even heard Mintesh mutter a plea to ‘all the gods in Efridor’.
Beside him, he heard Gosta whisper, “Don’t do it. Don’t you damn us all…” Yorin scowled at her, knowing full well that Nerik would never betray them. But Gosta wasn’t looking his way. Instead, he shook her hand off his own, hoping she got the message that way instead.
“I can’t change now,” Nerik said, after a pause.
“Why not?” Renfold demanded.
“The steel from the bars is blocking the magic. It won’t work for as long as I’m in the cage.”
“Is that true?” Yorin asked Kit, edging closer to her and keeping his voice low.
“No, it’s total rubbish,” she replied. “But as excuses go, it’s not a bad one.”